How popular is the baby name Nevaeha in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Nevaeha.

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Popularity of the baby name Nevaeha


Posts that mention the name Nevaeha

What popularized the baby name Nevaeh in the early 2000s?

Sonny Sandoval and baby daughter Nevaeh on an episode of the TV series "MTV Cribs" in 2000.
Sonny Sandoval and baby Nevaeh

The name Nevaeh was virtually unheard of before the year 2000. The earliest Nevaeh I’ve spotted in the records was born in 1904, and only a handful were born between that point and the mid-1990s.

The name managed to see enough usage in 1997 to debut in the U.S. baby name data with 5 baby girls (which is the minimum number required for inclusion in the publicly available version of the dataset, for safety reasons).

Nevaeh didn’t become the Next Big Thing, however, until it was spotlighted by MTV.

The documentary series MTV Cribs, which featured tours of the private homes of various celebrities, premiered in September of 2000.

In October of 2000 — just a few episodes in — the California-based Christian metal band P.O.D. appeared on the show. When P.O.D.’s vocalist Paul Joshua “Sonny” Sandoval — who, along with this wife, had welcomed a baby girl named Nevaeh Aurelia Sandoval in March of that year — introduced his daughter to the world via MTV Cribs, he succinctly explained the origin of her first name:

This is Nevaeh right here, that’s heaven spelled backwards. She’s my first, she’s 6 months old.

(Her middle name was likely chosen in honor of Sonny’s late mother, Aurelia.)

The following year, usage of the baby name Nevaeh exploded:

  • 2005: 4,558 baby girls named Nevaeh [rank: 69th]
  • 2004: 3,181 baby girls named Nevaeh [rank: 104th]
  • 2003: 2,300 baby girls named Nevaeh [rank: 145th]
  • 2002: 1,699 baby girls named Nevaeh [rank: 189th]
  • 2001: 1,199 baby girls named Nevaeh [rank: 266th]
  • 2000: 99 baby girls named Nevaeh
  • 1999: 8 baby girls named Nevaeh

The name didn’t merely break into the top 1,000 — it shot straight into the top 300. And it kept climbing, cracking the top 100 just four years later.

Nevaeh’s sudden trendiness gave rise to all sorts of spelling variants. The following graph shows how many baby girls in the U.S. have been given the name Navaeh or a variant since the late 1990s:

Variants of the baby name Nevaeh

(Spelling-specific popularity graphs: Nevaeh, Neveah, Navaeh, Nevaeha, Naveah, Neviah, Niveah, Navaya, Nevayah, Nevah, Nevaya, Naviah, Naveyah, Neaveh, Navayah, Naveya, Navea, Navah, Nevae, Nevea, Naviyah, Neveyah, Navae, Neviyah, Naevia, Naviya, Neveaha, Nivaeh, Nivaya, Niviah, Nyveah, Nevaiah, Neveya, Niveyah, Niveya, Navaiah, Neavah, Nyvaeh, Nevaha, Navaeha, and Nevaehia.)

And that’s not all. Hundreds of other babies were given names with that unorthodox “-aeh” ending:

Baby names ending with -vaeh like Nevaeh

(Name-specific popularity graphs: Lavaeh, Javaeh, Devaeh, Jevaeh, Levaeh, Sevaeh, Anevaeh, Avaeh, Davaeh, Savaeh, Kevaeh, Tyvaeh, Evaeh and Zevaeh. Navaeh, Nivaeh and Nyvaeh were listed above.)

Upward trends can’t last forever, though.

In terms of raw usage, Nevaeh’s best year on record was 2007. In terms of rank, it peaked at 25th in 2010 — a decade after that fateful MTV Cribs episode aired. Since then, though, the name has been losing steam.

YearGirls named NevaehRanking of Nevaeh
20125,40239th
20116,11233rd
20106,42925th
20096,11834th
20086,10934th
20076,81231st
20065,95143rd
20054,55869th

And this makes me wonder…now that it’s no longer on the rise, now that we’ve had a few years to get used to it, is Nevaeh less reviled today than it once was?

If you were a Nevaeh-hater in the beginning, are you still as adamantly against the name today? Or do you find it more tolerable now?

Sources:

P.S. Sandoval and his wife went on to have two more children: a daughter named Marley, and a son named Justice.

Spelling words backwards to create names

We’ve talked about flipping surnames into forenames before. What about flipping other words into forenames? Here are four real-life examples:

Alucard = Dracula, backwards. If you like the vampire associations of Lestat and Renesmee, Alucard might be right up your alley. At least 25 US baby boys have been named Alucard:

  • 2012: 6 baby boys named Alucard
  • 2011: unlisted
  • 2010: unlisted
  • 2009: 5 baby boys named Alucard
  • 2008: unlisted
  • 2007: 7 baby boys named Alucard
  • 2006: 7 baby boys named Alucard

Nacirema = American, backwards. At least 5 U.S. baby girls have been named Nacirema:

  • 2009: 5 baby girls named Nacirema

Nevaeh = Heaven, backwards. From a mere 5 baby girls in 1997 to the massive numbers below, at least at least 55,677 US baby girls (and 357 boys!) have been named Nevaeh. Here are the recent numbers and rankings for baby girls specifically:

  • 2011: 5,402 baby girls named Nevaeh [rank: 39th]
  • 2011: 6,112 baby girls named Nevaeh [rank: 33rd]
  • 2010: 6,429 baby girls named Nevaeh [rank: 25th]
  • 2009: 6,118 baby girls named Nevaeh [rank: 34th]
  • 2008: 6,109 baby girls named Nevaeh [rank: 34th]
  • 2007: 6,812 baby girls named Nevaeh [rank: 31st]
  • 2006: 5,951 baby girls named Nevaeh [rank: 43rd]

And don’t forget all the variant forms: Nevaeha, Anevaeh, Nevaehlee, Nevaehly, Nevaehia, Neveah, Neveaha, Nevayah, Neviah, Nevaya, Neveyah, Nevea, Nevae, Neviyah, Nevaha, Neveya, Navaeh, Naveah, Naveyah, Navayah, Navea, Naviyah, Naveya, Naviya, Navaeha, Niveah, Nivaeh, etc. Speaking of variant forms, how about…

Nevaehtnes = Sent Heaven, backwards. Though I’m sure these parents had “Heaven-sent” in mind. At least 5 U.S. baby girls have been named Nevaehtnes:

  • 2010: 5 baby girls named Nevaehtnes

Know of any other word-flip baby names? Or, can you invent one off the top of your head?